US12565958B2

US12565958B2 - Sleeve fastening system

Info

Publication number: US12565958B2
Application number: US18/538,069
Authority: US
Inventors: Gérard Millet; Vincent Delpy; Simon Foucart-Gaudy; Marc-Antoine Brocard
Original assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
Current assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
Priority date: 2022-12-16
Filing date: 2023-12-13
Publication date: 2026-03-03
Also published as: US20240200707A1; FR3143708A1; EP4386245B1; EP4386245A1

Abstract

A sleeve fastening system fastened to a joist pierced with a hole and receiving two pipes and including a cylinder fitted into the hole of which each end receives a pipe, wherein the wall of the cylinder has cut into it at least one tunnel, a flange, each tunnel having openings that emerge on either side of the flange that has a bearing face bearing against the joist and a free face, and for each tunnel, a holding system having a link, a shoe and a locking system, the link being housed in the tunnel with the shoe blocked in a first opening on the side of the free face and wherein the link exits via a second opening on the side of the bearing face and wherein the locking system attaches.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure herein relates to a sleeve fastening system that makes it possible to fasten pipes through a support such as a joist, and an assembly having a joist, pipes and such a sleeve fastening system.

BACKGROUND

There are numerous means for fastening pipes. For example, in an aircraft, there are horizontal joists and the pipes, in particular the conditioned-air pipes, are fastened to the joists either above or below them.

As a result of the positioning of the pipes, the space above and below the joists is cluttered, and this reduces the habitability of the aircraft.

Furthermore, in order to fasten the pipes, it is often necessary to realize piercings in the joists so as to fasten thereto fittings to which the pipes are attached.

It is therefore necessary to find an arrangement that makes it possible to limit the cluttering with the pipes and that avoids having to pierce the joists.

SUMMARY

An object of the disclosure herein is a sleeve fastening system that is arranged to be fastened inside a hole passing through a joist.

To that end, a sleeve fastening system is disclosed to be fastened to a joist pierced with a hole and to receive two pipes, the sleeve fastening system having:

- a cylinder of which each end is intended to receive a pipe by fitting, wherein the wall of the cylinder has cut into it at least one tunnel that is sealed with respect to the inside of the cylinder, wherein the cylinder is intended to be fitted into a hole in the joist,
- a flange as one with the cylinder and extending around the cylinder, wherein each tunnel has a first and a second openings that emerge outside the wall of the cylinder and on either side of the flange, wherein the flange has a bearing face intended to bear against the joist and a free face opposite, and
- for each tunnel, a holding system having a link, a shoe as one with a first end of the link and a locking system, wherein the link is housed in the tunnel such that the shoe is blocked at the first opening that is on the side of the free face and such that the second end of the link exits via the second opening on the side of the bearing face and wherein the locking system has a connector that attaches to the second end of the link and a bearing surface intended to come to bear against the joist.

With such an arrangement, the pipes pass through the joist at a hole that is already present.

Advantageously, the cylinder bears a bypass pipe that is arranged on the side of the first opening with respect to the flange and that emerges inside the cylinder.

Advantageously, the link takes the form of a self-locking clamping collar with teeth, and the connector has a non-return ratchet that cooperates with the teeth so as to block the withdrawal of the link.

Advantageously, the ratchet is mounted on an elastic arm of the connector.

Advantageously, the holding system has a support that extends the bearing surface towards the flange and is intended to penetrate into the hole, passing between the roof of the tunnel and the surface of the hole.

The disclosure herein also proposes an assembly having:

- a joist passed through by a hole,
- two pipes, and
- a sleeve fastening system according to one of the preceding variants wherein the cylinder is fitted into the hole and the bearing face of the flange bears against the joist, wherein the bearing surface is against the joist, and wherein a pipe is fitted onto each end of the cylinder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The abovementioned features of the disclosure herein, along with others, will become more clearly apparent upon reading the following description of one example embodiment, the description being given with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an assembly according to a first embodiment of the disclosure herein;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a sleeve fastening system according to the disclosure herein;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view in cross section of the assembly in FIG. 1 on the plane III in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 shows a view in cross section of an assembly according to a second embodiment of the disclosure herein;

FIG. 5 shows a view in cross section along the line V-V in FIG. 4 ; and

FIG. 6 shows a view in cross section of an assembly according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an assembly 100 that has a joist 102, in this case a beam of IPE type, but any other type of joist is conceivable.

The joist 102 has a web 104 that is passed through by at least one hole 106 a-b. In this case, there is a hole 106 a of circular shape and a hole 106 b of elliptical shape, but any shape of hole is possible.

The assembly 100 also has a sleeve fastening system 150 of which one embodiment is depicted in FIG. 2 and which is fastened to the joist 102 and receives two pipes 50 a-b of the assembly 100 that are depicted in partial cross section and in chain line in FIG. 2 .

The sleeve fastening system 150 is constituted of a flange 154 and a cylinder 152 having an axis X. The flange 154 is as one with the wall of the cylinder 152 and extends coaxially around the wall of the cylinder 152 so as to form an outer peripheral rib. The flange 154 is at a distance from each end of the cylinder 152 so as to allow the fitting of a pipe 50 a-b onto each of the ends, i.e. on either side of the flange 154.

The wall of the cylinder 152 has cut into it at least one tunnel 156 that has a first and a second openings 156 a-b that emerge outside the wall of the cylinder 152 and on either side of the flange 154. In the embodiment of the disclosure herein that is presented here, there are three tunnels 156 so as to ensure better holding of the sleeve fastening system 150 on the web 104. Each tunnel 156 extends parallel to the axis X.

In the case of the transport of fluid inside the cylinder 152, each tunnel 156 is sealed with respect to the inside of the cylinder 152. If the thickness of the wall of the cylinder 152 is sufficient, each tunnel 156 is cut into the wall of the cylinder 152 and if the thickness is insufficient, a reinforcement 158 is provided inside the wall of the cylinder 152 in order to delimit each tunnel 156 in a sealed manner. The wall of the cylinder 152, each reinforcement 158 and the associated tunnel 156 are realized conventionally by molding a plastic material.

For each tunnel 156, the sleeve fastening system 150 has a holding system 160, 260 of which various embodiments are described below and which ensures the fastening of the cylinder 152 on the joist 102.

When the sleeve fastening system 150 is put in place, an end of the cylinder 152 is fitted into a hole 106 a-b in the web 104 of the joist 102 so as to bring the flange 154 against the edge of the hole 106 a-b and against the web 104. The diameter of the flange 154 is greater than the inner dimension of the hole 106 a-b so as to be able to abut the joist 102. The flange 154 thus has a bearing face 154 a (FIGS. 3 and 4 ) that bears against the joist 102 and a free face 154 b opposite.

As is depicted in FIGS. 3 to 5 , the holding system 160, 260 has a link 164 and a shoe 162 as one with a first end of the link 164. The link 164 is housed in the tunnel 156 and has a second end that is opposite the shoe 162 and that is introduced into the tunnel 156 via the first opening 156 a that is on the side of the free face 154 b of the flange 154 so as to emerge via the second opening 156 b on the side of the bearing face 154 a. The dimensions of the shoe 162 and of the tunnel 156 are such that the shoe 162 cannot pass through the tunnel 156 and the shoe 162 is thus blocked at the first opening 156 a. The link 164 is preferably flexible so as to make the passage through the tunnel 156 easier and its second end exits via the second opening 156 b.

The holding system 160, 260 has a locking system 166, 266 that has a bearing surface 166 a, 266 a that, in use, bears against the web 104 of the joist 102 opposite the bearing face 154 a with respect to the joist 102, and a connector 166 b, 266 b that attaches to the second end of the link 164 so as to block the link 164 in the tunnel 156 and thus prevent the withdrawal of the link 164 while at the same time ensuring the clamping of the bearing surface 166 a, 266 a against the web 104.

During the putting in place, the second end of the link 164 is pulled so as to block the shoe 162 at the first opening 156 a in the tunnel 156, then the locking system 166, 266 is moved along the link 164 from its second end towards its first end so as to bring the bearing surface 166 a, 266 a against the joist 102 and thus clamp the joist 102 between the bearing face 154 a of the flange 154 and the bearing surface 166 a, 266 a of the locking system 166, 266. At the same time, the connector 166 b, 266 b attaches to the second end of the link 164 so as to block the shoe 162 and the bearing surface 166 a, 266 a.

Each pipe 50 a-b is fitted in a sealed manner onto an end of the cylinder 152. The sealing is realized by any appropriate structure, such as for example the putting in place and clamping of a circular clamp around the pipe 50 a-b, in particular in the case of a flexible pipe 50 a-b, but the sealing may also be realized by adhesive bonding, or putting in place a seal between the cylinder 152 and the pipe 50 a-b.

Thus, the sleeve fastening system 150 is housed in a hole 106 a-b in the joist 102 and no longer encroaches on the space available above or below the joist 102.

In the embodiment of the disclosure herein that is presented in FIG. 2 , the cylinder 152 has a bypass pipe 202 that is arranged on the side of the first opening 156 a with respect to the flange 154, i.e. on the side opposite the bearing face 154 a, and that emerges inside the cylinder 152 and makes it possible to fluidically connect a bypass pipe.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the holding system 160. In this embodiment, the link 164 takes the form of a self-locking clamping collar of the “Ty-Rap®” type, for example. That is to say that the link 164 has teeth 165 and the connector 166 b has a slot 168 a in which the link 164 is inserted and, inside the slot 168 a, the connector 166 b has a non-return ratchet 168 b that cooperates with the teeth 165 so as to block the withdrawal of the link 164 as soon as a tooth 165 of the link 164 is engaged with the ratchet 168 b. The link 164 is thus sandwiched between one of the faces of the slot 168 a and the ratchet 168 b.

According to one embodiment, the connector 166 b has a disengagement system that makes it possible to disengage the ratchet 168 b so as to make it possible to withdraw the link 164. Such a disengagement system is constituted for example of an elastic arm on which the ratchet 168 b is mounted and the tilting of the arm then makes it possible to move the ratchet 168 b away from the teeth 165 of the link 164.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show another embodiment of the holding system 260. In this embodiment, the link 164 also takes the form of a self-locking clamping collar with its teeth 165 and the connector 266 b has a passage 268 a beneath which the link 164 passes between the roof of the passage 268 a and the wall of the cylinder 152. At the outlet of the passage 268 a, the connector 266 b has a non-return ratchet 268 b that cooperates with the teeth 165 so as to block the withdrawal of the link 164 as soon as a tooth 165 of the link 164 is engaged with the ratchet 268 b. The link 164 is thus sandwiched between the wall of the cylinder 152 and the ratchet 268 b.

In this embodiment, the connector 266 b has a disengagement system that makes it possible to disengage the ratchet 268 b so as to make it possible to remove the link 164. Such a disengagement system is constituted in this case of an elastic arm 267 of the connector 266 b on which the ratchet 268 b is mounted and the tilting of the arm 267 then makes it possible to move the ratchet 268 b away from the teeth 165 of the link 164.

In the embodiments that are presented in FIG. 3 , the diameter of the hole 106 a-b in the web 104 is equal to the diameter of the roof of the tunnel 156, and this ensures correct positioning of the cylinder 152, but the diameter of the hole 106 a-b may be greater as is depicted in FIG. 4 .

In this embodiment, the holding system 260 then has a support 270 that extends the bearing surface 266 a towards the flange 154 and penetrates into the hole 106 a-b in the web 104, passing between the roof of the tunnel 156 and the surface of the hole 106 a-b. The roof of the tunnel 156 is the part that delimits the tunnel 156 and that is oriented towards the outside of the cylinder 152.

The sleeve fastening system 150 may be preassembled before its use by introducing the link 164 into the tunnel 156 and by putting in place the holding system 160, 260 on the link 164 in a non-clamped position. The sleeve fastening system 150 may then be put in place in the hole 106 a-b in the joist 102 and the holding system 160, 260 is actuated so as to ensure the clamping.

FIG. 6 shows a sleeve fastening system 600 that is fastened to a joist 102 of which the web 104 is pierced with a hole 106 a and which receives two pipes 50 a-b. The sleeve fastening system 600 has a cylinder 652 of which each end receives a pipe 50 a-b by fitting and the cylinder 652 is fitted into the hole 106 a in the joist 102.

The sleeve fastening system 600 also has a flange 654 as one with the cylinder 652 and extending around the latter, wherein the flange 654 has a bearing face 654 a that faces the joist 102 and a free face 654 b opposite.

The sleeve fastening system 600 also has a holding system 660 having a washer 660 a, in particular a flexible washer such as a Belleville washer, which is fitted onto the cylinder 652 and positioned between the bearing face 654 a and the joist 102.

The sleeve fastening system 600 also has a plurality of links 664, wherein each one has a first end as one with the washer 660 a and a second, free end opposite the washer 660 a, wherein each link 664 takes the form of a self-locking clamping collar with teeth 665. Each link 664 extends on the outside along the wall of the cylinder 652. Each link 664 passes through the hole 106 a.

The sleeve fastening system 600 also has a locking system 666 having a connector 666 b that attaches to the teeth 665 from the second end of the link 664 and a bearing surface 666 a that comes to bear against the joist 102 on the other side with respect to the washer 660 a. The connector 666 b in this case takes the form of a ratchet that cooperates with the teeth 665.

While at least one example embodiment of the invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions, and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the example embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A sleeve fastening system for fastening to a joist pierced with a hole and to receive two pipes, the sleeve fastening system comprising:

a cylinder of which each end is configured to receive a pipe by fitting, wherein a wall of the cylinder has cut into the wall at least one tunnel that is sealed with respect to an inside of the cylinder, wherein the cylinder is configured to be fitted into a hole in the joist;

a flange as one with the cylinder and extending around the cylinder, wherein each tunnel has a first and second openings that emerge outside the wall of the cylinder and on either side of the flange, wherein the flange has a bearing face to bear against the joist and a free face opposite; and

for each tunnel, a holding system having a link, a shoe as one with a first end of the link and a locking system, wherein the link is housed in the tunnel such that the shoe is blocked at the first opening that is on a side of the free face and such that the second end of the link exits via the second opening on a side of the bearing face and wherein the locking system has a connector that attaches to the second end of the link and a bearing surface to come to bear against the joist.

2. The sleeve fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder bears a bypass pipe that is on a side of the first opening with respect to the flange and that emerges inside the cylinder.

3. The sleeve fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the link comprises a self-locking clamping collar with teeth and wherein the connector has a non-return ratchet that cooperates with the teeth to block withdrawal of the link.

4. The sleeve fastening system according to claim 3, wherein the ratchet is mounted on an elastic arm of the connector.

5. The sleeve fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the holding system has a support that extends the bearing surface towards the flange and is configured to penetrate into the hole, passing between a roof of the tunnel and a surface of the hole.

6. An assembly comprising:

a joist passed through by a hole;

two pipes; and

a sleeve fastening system according to claim 1 wherein the cylinder is fitted into the hole and the bearing face of the flange bears against the joist, wherein the bearing surface is against the joist, and wherein a pipe is fitted onto each end of the cylinder.